I practiced hand catching for 1.5hr today. All good and fine. Anyway to pull it down from the air without the remote in hand? Any trick when pull it down and to not have the drone rev up the motors?
Hand catching without remote?
- Thread starter Frylikeabird
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PhantomWetSuits
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NOPE. And as a note, turn off the VPS when hand catching if you haven't made that error already.
N017RW
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Turn it off.
No, as FD said.
The motor rev is the aircraft trying to maintain attitude/altitude. It doesn't know you're trying to 'land'.
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If you grab the drone and turn it sideways, as in top vertical to the ground, it will turn off.
N017RW
Premium Pilot
This might be an obvious observation but still wanted to point out. Using this trick on the mavic is way way different than doing it with a phantom. Maybe it works but the force generated from a full rev props on a phantom is a lot stronger than that of a mavic, and any slip will certainly leave a mark on your fingers or forearm and you won't like it. I know it's not what you asked, but I have a perfect track record (hundreds of catches) keeping the remote in one hand hanging from a lanyard around my neck. Throttle Down with your left hand and catch it with your right hand. Easy peasy and way way less dangerous. Just one man's opinion.
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Nice catch! Pun intended...
I was thinking he had a phantom, my bad.
I was thinking he had a phantom, my bad.
Yip when p4 was alive , remote in harness with vps off and left stick down,still take few secs anyway çause it know it not on the ground,,this just my way ,prefer to land on ground if it there
That's okay, I am thinking he has a phantom as well. If he has a question about hand catching a mavic then he's in the wrong Forum LOL Anyway, my opinion was really directed at the op
This is what I need! I tried it and it worked! Dangerous but it really stops the motors. Thankyou. I have a P4p+
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Why catch it without the remote? Are you using both hands for that?
Just grab the remote with your left hand and put the finger on the left stick. Now catch the Phantom for the leg closer to you.
Now firmly squeeze the leg and push the left stick on the remote fully down and to the right hand corner as you usually do when you stop the motors.
Very important in that moment that your hand grip is strong enough to prevent the Phantom to turn upside down right into your forearm while the rotors are still spinning.
It happened to me a year ago when I got three nice and deep scratch right in the middle of my right forearm. It was a nice lesson.
Just grab the remote with your left hand and put the finger on the left stick. Now catch the Phantom for the leg closer to you.
Now firmly squeeze the leg and push the left stick on the remote fully down and to the right hand corner as you usually do when you stop the motors.
Very important in that moment that your hand grip is strong enough to prevent the Phantom to turn upside down right into your forearm while the rotors are still spinning.
It happened to me a year ago when I got three nice and deep scratch right in the middle of my right forearm. It was a nice lesson.
As you see I hand launch and catch my P4P+ all the time . . . as a matter of routine. It is easier and safer than most people think, same with my mavics too. Just keep it above your head until you have hold of it and then LEFT stick down and it stops. The controller should never be out of your hands anyway. Just turn off the sonic landing sensor and it won't try and avoid you. Works well day or night with the P4P or Mavic. I just hold my hand ready to grab a leg or under the body (Mavic) ready to hold it an let it settle . . going full down on the LEFT stick as soon as I have my hand on it. I usually wear gloves but not always . . (maybe I should). Only got nicked once when I was not paying attention in gusty winds . . not focused only on the drone . . . and got slapped in the thumb. It stung a bit for a while but no damage especially with gloves. I do this primarily so never have to find a flat, clean or dry place to fly from. I know if I can stand there I can launch and recover.
It’s a very docile maneuver . P4P held firmly till its nearly flying under its own power... then it lifts off easily and smoothly. Just need to hold it slightly above with an outstretched arm. If it’s miss behaving or pulling just don’t let go till there are no pressures or turn it off. Once 10 feet away just do a standard control check and off you go.
For hand capture, but bring it to a stable hover and grasp on leg and LEFT Stick DOWN. Even in 20 mph wind the P4P is easily stable enough to grasp a leg firmly before touching the stick. Awareness and confidence in the system is all you need. . . and maybe a little practice in calm wind so it's not a "let's see of this works" kind of demonstration.
For hand capture, but bring it to a stable hover and grasp on leg and LEFT Stick DOWN. Even in 20 mph wind the P4P is easily stable enough to grasp a leg firmly before touching the stick. Awareness and confidence in the system is all you need. . . and maybe a little practice in calm wind so it's not a "let's see of this works" kind of demonstration.
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It's the only way I do it. Hand launching and hand catching are safer for your expensive phantom. How do you think they launch from a rocking boat? It doesn't have to be perfectly level so long as it's calibrated. I've been strictly hand launch for a while and I am more comfortable than from the ground.
I forgot to mention too that a neck strap is much safer and preferred over just holding the controller in your left hand . . less chance of fumbling or worse dropping it at a critical moment. . . although I have done both occasionally.
Meta4
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On a rocking boat, the best way is to have a trusted assistant hold the drone above his face level.
He has to understand to only hold it lightly and release when you push the power up.
Calibrated ?? There's no need for anything to be calibrated before flying from a boat - just as there's no need on land.
I still haven't calibrated anything on my main Phantom since I got it 2.5 years ago.
